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Feeder
Feeder are a British rock band formed in the mid-90s. Much of their early work had a grunge sound to it, however as they progressed in their career, Feeder have adopted a more melodic sound before reverting back to a rock sound in recent years. Their current line-up is Grant Nicholas (Vocals/Guitar), Taka Hirose (Bass Guitar) and Karl Brazil (Drums). Although chart success has run dry of late, they have had 5 consecutive top 10 albums, as well as 20 top 40 UK singles. Biography Early Years The band originally formed in 1994, with Grant Nicholas and Jon Lee recruiting Taka Hirose as bassist. They had gone through many name changes beforehand. The band released their first EP Two Colours in 1995 and another longer EP, Swim, a year later. Swim gained the band a strong fanbase and acclaim from several respected music reviewers. Polythene The band's first length album was released to critical acclaim in 1997. entitled Polythene. The grunge album was well received by fans and press, but failed to have a strong impact on the charts. 5 singles were taken from the album, Tangerine, Cement, Crash, High and Suffocate. The latter two were the only singles to reach the UK top 40. High was originally a stand-alone single, but following the success it was included in a re-issue of the album, replacing Waterfall. Yesterday Went Too Soon The band's follow-up album was released two years later and became the group's first top 10 album, as well as opening the band up to many new fans, interested in their more mellow approach. The album did contain inspirations from previous releases, but it was clear the band had changed direction slightly, in making more commercial rock. The album spawned four singles, three of which Day In Day Out, Insomnia and Yesterday Went Too Soon were released before the album in an attempt to promote the album. Paperfaces was released three months after, but failed to land the band's 6th consecutive top 40 single. Echo Park Feeder officially entered the mainstream with their 2001 hit Echo Park. The album was slightly heavier than their predecessor, however was well received by the public and consequently charted at Number 5 in the UK album charts. The album however was not such a hit the critics and received mixed reviews and can be considered as the starting point for critical indifference towards the band. 3 singles were released from this album, including the smash hit Buck Rogers. Although leadman Grant Nicholas is critical of this song, he does recognise its importance in the band's career, as he has often stated this was the song that meant the band continue for as long as they have. Seven Days In The Sun and Turn were also released, but failed to have the effect Buck Rogers had. A further single was released in 2001, that being Just A Day, which originally was a b-side to Seven Days In The Sun. It was released as a single in its own right due to appearing on the video game Gran Turismo. The single performed better than Seven Days, and stayed in the UK top 20 for four weeks. An extended edition of Swim was issued shortly after the album was released, to capitalise on the band's sudden success. Early in 2002, drummer Jon Lee committed suicide in his Miami home. It is unknown what provoked this, as he had a loving family and successful career. Poignantly, the last song played by the band with Lee live was a cover of The Police's Can't Stand Losing You. Because of this, the band stayed out of the spotlight for much of 2002, turning down high profile gigs as Nicholas did not want the band to profit from Lee's death. Comfort In Sound The band's next album took a more emotive direction, with many lyrics having come from Nicholas's despair at Lee's death. Although the album chart slightly lower than Echo Park, it was the first of three albums by the band to go Platinum, the others being the aforementioned Echo Park and later, The Singles. With new drummer Mark Richardson, the band released four singles: Come Back Around, Just The Way I'm Feeling, Forget About Tomorrow and Find The Colour. The album sold relatively poorly until the released of Just The Way I'm Feeling, when the album rocketed back into the top 20 and subsequently spent the next 30 weeks in the top 75. The choice of Come Back Around as lead single surprised many, who felt Just The Way would have been a better choice. The latter became the band's second top 10 hit, whereas the former charted at Number 14. The single choice was again questioned with the release of Find The Colour, which was also criticised by Nicholas who said pressure from their label Echo was the reason. This problem arisen again with their next album, Pushing The Senses. Pushing The Senses The band's follow-up album was not released until early 2005 and again featured softer, piano-driven songs. This divided critics with some saying Feeder were in danger of alienating their fanbase and turning themselves away from their roots. Although the album became their highest-charting album to date, it was not as successful sales-wise, as Echo were in financial troubles at this time. Three singles were taken from this album, with lead-single Tumble And Fall becoming their joint-highest single to date, charting at Number 5. However their second single Feeling A Moment became a bigger hit with fans and many have claimed that if it were released as lead singe as opposed to Tumble And Fall, it would have charted higher and perhaps helped the album to emulate the success of Comfort In Sound. Pushing The Senses was also released as a single. A year later the group released their first compilation album, The Singles. This featured all of their top 40 hits, bar Find The Colour and Day In Day Out. The album also featured 4 previously unreleased songs: b-side to Tumble And Fall; Shatter, Lost And Found, Save Us and Burn The Bridges, the latter not being released as a single. Shatter is considered by many fans as Feeder's best song and was jointly released as Tender/Shatter and charted at Number 11, one ahead of Lost And Found. The album also featured a re-worked version of Suffocate and Comfort In Sound. The album spent four weeks in the top 10 and went Platinum within months. It is Feeder's second best selling album by an estimated 6,000 copies. In 2004, the band released a limited edition b-sides compilation Picture Of Perfect Youth (not related to the Feeder song), and received a commercial release in 2007. The album included single Just A Day and covers of The Police's Can't Stand Losing You and Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Power Of Love. It also featured a song entitled Come Back Around, which is no relation to the single of the same name. Silent Cry With continuing financial troubles for Echo, Feeder released their sixth studio outing, Silent Cry. It featured a return to the heavier sound noted in their previous three singles. It did however feature more melodic songs, such as Heads Held High. The album surprised the band by becoming their sixth top 10 album, however it was their first not to sell Silver in the UK. Two singles were released, We Are The People and the split Tracing Lines/Silent Cry. The latter failed to chart, with the former being their last top 40 single to date. Further singles were planned, but little interest in the album stunted the releases to just two. Critical response was again mixed. Renegades Following a lukewarm response to their last album, Feeder spent the next year touring under the pseudonym Renegades. Subsequently, their next album was entitled Renegades, but released under the normal band name. The band however did recruit a new drummer, in Karl Brazil. The album was also the first to be released on their own self-funded label, Big Teeth Music. Although critical response was again muted, the album became one of few in UK music history to reach the top 20 albums chart on a self-funded label. Three singles were released from the album, but none charted. The album is arguably their heaviest since early EPs, with most songs being short tracks, filled with heavy drumming and loads guitar riffs. Generation Freakshow Feeder's eighth studio album was released in early 2012 and charted slightly higher than its predecessor. Yet again the album was released to mild reviews, and although it was received better in their fanbase than Renegades, failed to have a lasting effect. With considerable online promotion, their first single Borders charted at Number 52, however Children Of The Sun and Idaho failed to have such an effect. The album was said to be perfect for Feeder's existing fanbase, but had nothing to expand their fanbase. Songs like Headstrong and Children Of The Sun were praised, the former for being hard-hitting while the latter for having a melodic Oasis feel. The album also appears to feature Feeder's first song to be based on former drummer Jon Lee, the album's fourth song Hey Johnny. Post-Generation Freakshow, the band have remained quiet, performing no shows in 2013. The band have hinted that they will be back recording in 2014. Discography Albums Swim was a re-release of Feeder's 1996 EP of the same name, but consisted of 5 extra tracks. Other albums including Japanese compilations; Another Yesterday in 2000, Best Days In The Sun in 2001 and Seven Sleepers in 2009. Several other EPs were released in Japan, due to bass player Taka Hirose's Japan origin. EPs and Singles Stereo World would later appear on Polythene. High was originally a non-album single but due to its popularity, was included in a re-release of Polythene. Piece By Piece was only released in Belgium, France and Germany. Further Reading (Add links to websites, label biographies, fansites, books, periodicals or any additional information on the artist) Category:British rock music groups Category:Musical groups established in 1992 Category:Alternative Rock groups Category:Indie rock groups Category:Post-grunge groups Category:Post-punk groups Category:Elektra Records artists Category:Universal Records artists Category:Roadrunner Records artists